Never Wake Up!
by Without Fear
Summary: Toddler Kakashi is afraid his father will never wake up. Rare family moment for the tragic Hatakes... One-shot


_This was originally part of the now-defunct In Blood, We Paint Ourselves as a short mini piece to stop the story. These days, I just want to write nice, cute stories (this would be my first attempt at one XD). It's hard to fit that into a shinobi world though. ONE-SHOT._

**Never Wake Up**

_Without Fear_

Three year old Kakashi was an abomination. He called his parents by their names, knew the language of sarcasm and could read books that troubled those twice his age. He was disgustingly advanced and had trouble making friends for play dates. He was not a normal child by any means, and all the mothers whispered behind their little fingers about the strange Hatake child.

Any normal parents would be worried by their son's early predisposition to be anti-social and strange, but Kakashi's parents weren't normal parents. They were bright, educated and eccentric people who were completely unaffected when their three year old son called them "Sakumo-san" and "Kisu-san". They saw no reason to correct him. In fact, they fostered and encouraged some of his quirks.

But the precocious Kakashi was still three years old who sometimes _did_ act like the toddler that he is, especially when his father was home (it was easier to be babied by his father than his mother, apparently).

One particular day when his father was home and his mother had gone out on some business, Kakashi was so giddy it seemed like Christmas had come. But it was better than Christmas: he had his "Sakumo-san", the very cool ninja, all to himself. His father had been home a day from his three week mission, and it crossed his mind that he must've been tired, but…it was his Sakumo-san!

He bounced into the bedroom where his father was changing into his home clothes, shouting, "Sakumo-san, play ninja with me!"

Sakumo cringed at his son's voice. He looked slightly nervous, and regarded at his son with a look that cried, "_Why now_? Why did he decide to be a kid _now_?"

"Sorry, Kakashi, I'm tired," said he, falling onto the bed, "I'm tired."

"But…" Kakashi's little face fell, "It's still day, you can't sleep!"

"Ehm…" the older Hatake had already began to slip into sleep, "Let's play, later, eh, Kakashi? I need some sleep."

"But, but, I wanna play with Sakumo-san!" Kakashi demanded. He didn't whine, mind you, because Kakashi was a bad whiner. No, it was a demand, a stubborn request.

Sakumo lifted an eye to look at his son and his insanely cute pouty face. His heart tickled; he really wanted to go and cuddle with his son. He hadn't done that since Kakashi had been an infant, but his legs and arms told him to stay where he was. Sakumo groaned and repeated, "I'll just take a nap for a while."

Kakashi pouted and the little side of him that was an annoying toddler, the remnants of the terrible twos he never used, exhibited itself in a tantrum.

"Fine!" Kakashi huffed, crossing arms, "Sleep all you want. That's all you do! Sleep forever and ever and never ever wake up!"

Sakumo insides shook with laughter. Did Kakashi just have a tantrum? Other parents are proud by their kid's first word, but Sakumo was more amused by Kakashi's first real tantrum. Sakumo shifted up a little and looked at his son with feigned sadness, "Alright, Kakashi, if you say so, I'll sleep forever and ever and never ever wake up! I'll just die!" He dropped himself into the bed and closed his eyes shut, waiting for Kakashi's reaction.

Disappointingly, Kakashi did not react. Of course, what was he thinking? Kakashi was too smart for this kind of thing…Sakumo wasn't into intellectual games when he was this tired. Kakashi was a mature kid; he'd probably understand how tired he was.

"NO!" Kakashi suddenly shouted, "Don't do that! Don't never wake up!" Sakumo jumped in genuine surprise and looked at his son with an expression between bemusement and fatigue.

Kakashi, with sad baby eyes, looked up at this father and mumbled, almost apologetically, "I don't want you to die."

Sakumo, realization dawning on him, smiled and patted his son's silver hair. "I won't die, Kakashi, promise…I'm really tired, and I just need a rest."

Kakashi looked reluctant, but nodded anyways. Sakumo lay back down onto his bed and watched as his son slink out of the room, dejected.

Sakumo was barely asleep with a violent shaking woke him up. He started, and looked around wildly to see Kakashi looking down at him with worried eyes.

"What, Kakashi?" he asked sleepily.

"Nothing," Kakashi said with a shrug of his little shoulders, "Just checking to see if you were still alive." Sakumo would have found this cute and funny if he wasn't so tired, but he just nodded and fell back asleep.

Unfortunately for the elder Hatake, Kakashi repeated this set of actions several times, saying, "Just checking". Alas, the jounin could not bear his son's torture and opted for some sleeping medicine, which knocked him out before he could think again.

And finally, he enjoyed a peaceful sleep with no distractions (there probably was, but he probably hadn't noticed). It would be the first time in months he got sleep this good and refreshing. He slept…long.

When he woke up, however, he woke up to the rare sound of crying—of Kakashi crying and a voice trying to hush him. He glanced at the clock; he had been asleep for over five hours. He looked around to see his wife with her back to him carrying a half-sobbing and half-asleep Kakashi in her arms and patting his back.

Now, this was really strange. Kakashi rarely cried, and it crossed his mind that something terrible must have happened. He started at the thought and asked his wife, worried, "What happened to Kakashi?"

His wife turned around at his voice, and gave him a look of utter disapproval. She yelled at him, "You're such an idiot, Hatake Sakumo! You don't tell a kid you would sleep and never wake up, and take strong sleeping pills!"

Sakumo seemed slightly confused, and looked at his wife blankly. For such a genius ninja, he was slow sometimes, but he was still coming out of the sluggishness of his medicine-induced sleep, so you have to excuse him a little. His confusion showed on his face, it seems, because his wife shook her head in exasperation and sighed.

"_Kakashi thought you really died!"_

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Recently, my obsession with Kakashi has flared up again. I think I might do a fic on the tragic Hatake family. Thanks for reading, and I would love it if I could hear some feedback about the story. Summer is here, and I'm happy.

Thanks, _Orodruin_ for pointing out some mistakes. I did take out that last sentence!

I also realize this little incident was a little at odds with how I described Kakashi in the beginning, but I believe all smart kids are still kids. I bet even dear Itachi, Madara and Orochimaru had their cute-kid moments.

And, this was based off a real event between me and my little cousin. I didn't take a sleeping pill, but my little cousin was devastated because he thought I had died. In retrospect, while it's funny, it's a terrible thing to do to a kid. Thanks.


End file.
